Mark Kerr, a mixed martial arts fighter, is Dwayne Johnson’s new dramatic part.
A24 revealed on Wednesday that the 51-year-old former wrestler will play the MMA and UFC champion in Benny Safdie’s upcoming movie The Smashing Machine.
“Dwayne and Benny are both very talented, and the way they see Mark’s story is truly uplifting. “We are deeply honored that they have put their trust in us to work with them on this very special project,” Noah Sacco of A24 told The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.
Safdie, who is 37 years old, co-directed Uncut Gems with Adam Sandler and Good Time with Robert Pattinson. He did this with his brother Josh Safdie. Safdie’s first project as both a writer and director on his own will be The Smashing Machine. The movie is being made by Johnson, Safdie, Dany Garcia, Eli Bush, and David Koplan.
The movie will follow Kerr’s life from the height of his career in 2000 through wins at work, love, friendship, and drug abuse.
Kerr, who is 54 years old, was called “The Smashing Machine” because of the way he fights. He won over twenty mixed martial arts titles, including two UFC Heavyweight Tournament titles and a World Vale Tudo Championship title.
Kerr was the subject of the HBO documentary The Smashing Machine in 2002. It followed the MMA fighter’s career and showed how he rose through the ranks. It also showed Kerr’s battle with addiction, which ended in an overdose.
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Even though Johnson quit the WWE in 2004, he just recently came back and fought John Cena.
Fans were shocked when the two wrestling stars fought on WWE SmackDown! at Ball Arena in Denver in September. Cena was seen standing behind Johnson and looking straight ahead with his hands behind his back while Johnson came back.
The two men faced each other with straight faces and no feeling. They tried to stay serious, but they couldn’t help but smile.
“I see you trying to smile!” Johnson said this while pointing at Cena, who agreed by nodding his head. The actor then extended his hand to Johnson and said, “Welcome home.”
Other movies that Johnson is working on right now are Red Notice 2, Fast X: Part 2, Jungle Cruise 2, Red One, and the live-action version of Moana.
The most recent movies that Safdie has worked on are Telemarketers and Love Has Won, which he produced. He was also in the movie Are You There, God? My name is Margaret, and this is Oppenheimer.
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